Healthy Living

How to avoid mistakes at dinner
Dinner is an extremely important meal to get right, and it is also the one where the most mistakes tend to be made. One of the largest and most common errors is making dinner the biggest meal of the day. Generally speaking most people will need more calories earlier on in the day and yet most people make dinner their primary source of food for the whole day and then indulge a little too much.

Putting serving dishes on the table is another big no-no as it practically encourages people to overeat. Another problem is what happens after the big meal, with many people then tending to snack while sitting on the couch in the evening. Another problem is going out for a meal too often, as restaurant food tends to be much higher in calories than the food eaten at home and often comes with hidden fats, salt and sugar, while fast food should really be out of the question entirely except on very rare occasions.

 

Protect your vision
One way to protect our vision in today’s world is to keep screens at a distance. Screens are not just belonging to desktops or laptops, they are prevalent throughout society with MP3 players, tablets, e-readers and smartphones, as well as movie screens and the screens we encounter at sporting events, on the train and on subways and in airports.

 

The glare and contrast from an electronic screen can result in eyestrain and computer vision syndrome, causing symptoms such as blurred vision, headaches, dry or red eyes, neck pain, double vision, difficulty refocusing and dry or red eyes.

 

Experts say that screens should be kept at least at arms’ length away from eyes for computer screens and 16 inches away from screens on handheld devices. If the text is hard to read at that distance, increase the font size. Soft lighting which does not cause glare will also minimize eyestrain with all such devices, while an antiglare filter can be used for desktop computers.

 

Reducing your sodium intake
Americans are recommended to take no more than 1500 milligrams of sodium per day, but the truth is that the great majority of us consumes far more than this and do not even know it. Even just an ordinary homemade ham and cheese sandwich can feature 1300 milligrams of sodium. The reality is that much of the sodium we intake is hidden, with around eighty percent being present already in restaurant meals and processed foods when we eat them.

 

Diets that are high in sodium increase the chance of high blood pressure, which in turn can cause strokes and heart attacks. This means that cutting down on the amount of sodium that we consume is very important. One good tip for doing so is to cook with fresh foods from scratch so as to avoid hidden salt, and using tasty replacements for salt such as fresh garlic and chili powder.

 

There is often a big difference between different brands so be sure to compare them and always check labels. If you dine out, go to restaurants that offer healthier options for children and order smaller portions.